Achieving a major milestone, ISRO on Thursday announced that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s Lander Module has successfully separated from the Propulsion module that was propelling it all these days in space.
The Lander Module comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan) is now ready to be lowered to an orbit that takes it closer to the Moon’s surface. The soft landing on the Lunar south pole is scheduled on August 23.
“Thanks for the ride, mate! said the Lander Module (LM). LM is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module (PM). LM is set to descend to a slightly lower orbit upon a deboosting planned for tomorrow around 1600 Hrs., IST,” ISRO said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
After Thursday’s separation, the lander is expected to undergo a “deboost” (the process of slowing down) to place it in an orbit, where the Perilune (the orbit’s closest point to the Moon) is 30 km and Apolune (farthest point from the Moon) is 100 km, from where the soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon will be attempted, ISRO sources said.
Meanwhile, the Propulsion Module will continue its journey in the current orbit for months/years, the country’s space agency said.
“The SHAPE (Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth) payload onboard it (Propulsion Module) would perform spectroscopic study of the Earth’s atmosphere and measure the variations in polarisation from the clouds on Earth – to accumulate signatures of Exoplanets that would qualify for our habitability!” ISRO said, adding that this payload is shaped by its U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru.
Post its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 entered into the lunar orbit on August 5, following which orbit reduction manoeuvres were carried out on the satellite on August 6, 9, 14 and 16, ahead of separation of both its modules today, in the runup to the landing on August 23.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath had recently said the most critical part of the landing is the process of bringing the velocity of the lander from 30 km height to the final landing, and that the ability to transfer the spacecraft from horizontal to vertical direction is the “trick we have to play” here.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the exclusive findings and inputs of Chandrayaan-3 will benefit the entire World Community. He said, the mission on Thursday achieved another historic feat, when the Vikram lander module of the spacecraft, carrying Pragyan rover successfully detached from the propulsion module in its onward lunar journey.
